Despite The Loss Of Elderly From COVID-19, Nursing Homes Still Struggling To Receive PPE

From Connecticut to California, nursing homes and long-term care facilities continue to struggle to receive Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), updating testing kits, and carry undermanned staffing to adequately care for those in need while also properly protecting themselves in the process.

It has been nearly two months since hospitals and healthcare facilities throughout the United States have been flooded with patients suffering from Coronavirus symptoms and succumbing to COVID-19, yet perhaps the hardest hit by the pandemic are nursing homes with reports showing that deaths in U.S. nursing homes have surpassed 10,000.

From Connecticut to California, nursing homes continue to struggle to receive Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), updating testing kits, and carry undermanned staffing to adequately care for those in need while also properly protecting themselves in the process. During a time when companies are increasing PPE production for healthcare workers, those supplies are generally going to assist hospitals, not nursing homes and long-term care facilities. For those nursing homes who are equipped with a limited supply of PPE, some Certified Nursing Assistants are even being asked to re-use the same mask for a week. The same can be said for nursing homes in Michigan, where workers are re-using masks for up to seven days and perhaps even going as far as to not report COVID-19 cases. In Minnesota, Nursing assisted living facilities and nursing homes across the State are being hit the hardest by the pandemic with half of the deaths statewide attributed to long-term care residents. 

The sad reality goes on from there in regards to lack of PPE and staffing concerns. In Philadelphia, 52% of the Coronavirus-related deaths have been reported from city-wide nursing homes. Across Pennsylvania, roughly 3,290 nursing home residents (and 394 workers) have contracted the virus, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The numbers tell part of the story: nearly 1 in 10 nursing homes in the United States have reported cases of the Coronavirus according to a Washington Post report, with the disease far more fatal among the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified people 65 and older (and those in long-term care facilities) as being the most susceptible to suffer from the virus. 

It’s a big reason why on New York City Mayor, Bill De Blasio, took time on Thursday to address the lingering concern. Whereas the city has continued to send supplies and support nursing homes by sending nearly ten million pieces of PPE (N95 masks, surgical masks, gowns, eye protection, and gloves) a week to all 169 nursing homes, De Blasio is committed to increasing distributions by 50% this week.

Will other city officials and state leaders begin taking a stronger stance in order to get the nursing homes and long-term care facility residents and workers the PPE they so desperately need?

Unfortunately, the lack of PPE isn’t only an on-going issue affecting nursing homes in the United States but around the world as well for those living in long-term care facilities. 

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